Bless The Broken Road
by EmoStarlette
Summary: But even though I’ve just left the only home I’ve ever known, I feel safer than I ever thought was possible. I guess that’s what Seth Cohen does to you." OCOTH crossover.


Disclaimer: We do not own The O.C. or One Tree Hill, nor do we claim to.

A/N: Hey guys! You may or may not have read the 1st in our OC meets OTH crossover series, and if you didn't, you really should. It's called "Title and Registration" and you can find it in the OTH section (or in my profile). It's probably not vital that you read it in order to understand this, but just do it. You'll most likely enjoy it. If you did read it, yay you! We really hope you enjoy this sequel and give us lots of nice reviews : P

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**Brooke's POV**

Its amazing how one moment (and a bushy tailed squirrel) can stand between who you once were and who you're meant to be. What's even more amazing is how one boy can change your entire life. While we're on the subject of amazing things, I should mention how ironic it is that out of all the jobs in this country, my father got one working for the Newport Group right here in Newport Beach, California. A plane ticket and about 6 hours later and I was in the arms of the very boy who had changed my life. In fact, he's sleeping next to me right now with a soft snore and a smile that melts my heart. The windows across the room are opened and I can feel the ocean breeze and smell the salty air. But even though I've just left the only home I've ever known, I feel safer than I ever thought was possible. I guess that's what Seth Cohen does to you.

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**(normal POV)**

Marissa rummaged through the kitchen, going about making breakfast. Frankly, she was sick of bagels and needed something of the non-carb variety, which resulted in her making bacon and eggs.

"What's all this?" Ryan wandered into the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Breakfast," Marissa beamed with a rather chipper tone. She had had a nice time in Tree Hill, but was somewhat happy to be home. "I figured we should start our first day of **real** summer vacation off right."

"No bagels?" Ryan pouted as he sat down at the kitchen counter, and watched her turn off the stove.

"You've lived with the Cohen's far too long," Marissa joked, shoving a plate in front of him, "So where is everyone else?"

"Still sleeping," Ryan answered, referring to Summer and Lindsay. Due to the Summer/Zach drama, he had opted to head home the night before.

"No Seth yet?" Marissa sighed, picking up the spatula, "I'm worried about him. He hasn't come out of his room since we got back." The gang had fallen asleep pretty soon after getting home, but Seth had pretty much closed himself up in his room and hadn't been heard from since.

"He fell pretty hard for Brooke," Ryan reasoned, "He just needs time to go through his moping period."

"Either way, he needs to eat," Marissa replied, filling a plate with food, "Let's go take this up to him. Maybe he'll decide to join us."

"He's probably not even awake yet," Ryan told her as he munched on a piece of bacon, "But I guess it's worth a try." Together they made their way up the stairs, stopping at Seth's door.

"Seth, man, you up?" Ryan asked, knocking softly on the door. There was no reply, but the sound of sheets rustling, "We have bacon."

"Bacon?" Seth's muffled voice asked from inside.

"Yeah, and eggs too," Marissa announced, reaching out to open the door with her free hand and then went right in. Ryan followed closely behind, but nearly slammed into her when she stopped dead in her tracks. Not knowing why she'd stopped so abruptly, he looked over at Seth's bed, instantly seeing why.

"Brooke?" Marissa gasped, almost dropping the plate.

"Hi," Brooke responded softly, her cheeks flustered a bright shade of pink. She had the sheets wrapped tightly around her, while Seth was next to her with his face still in a pillow. "Um…how's it going?"

"Oh my god, what are you doing here?" Marissa squealed running over to jump on the bed in order to give her friend a hug. Seth looked up, staring at them confusedly, realizing Marissa was about to walk over.

"Stop!" He sat up, holding his arm out before she could make it all the way over.

"What, why?" Marissa raised an eyebrow, before fully understanding the situation. She stepped back and saw the clothes strewn across the floor. "Oh my god…wow, um, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to intrude on your…nakedness."

"Yeah, thanks," Seth replied groggily, "Now, a little privacy please?"

"C'mon Marissa, let's go," Ryan laughed, shaking his head as he pulled her out of the room.

"Wait," Seth stopped them before they could go, "Leave the bacon."

* * *

Though she may never admit it, Marissa Cooper was born to be a Newpsie. She loved planning events, loved running charities, loved dressing up, and loved all the drama that was expected to unfold. Yes, she detested her mother, who was of course, a Newpsie, but that didn't mean she didn't want to be one. Well…she didn't want to be one, not really, but the idea wasn't totally out of her head. Glancing in the mirror, she maneuvered her soft brown hair into a French twist, and then went about applying her makeup. Nothing too grand, just some bronzer and lip gloss, and of course just enough mascara. With a smile, she swished her dress about, loving the feeling of wearing a gown.

"Knock, knock," She heard her best friend's singsong voice float into the room, along with the feisty brunette herself. "Getting ready for the party, I assume?"

"Of course," Marissa grinned, taking a seat on her bed, "I'm finishing up actually."

"Oh, mind if I get ready here?" Summer asked, hanging her dress, which was in a dry cleaning bag, on the back of the door. "The step-monster is out of Zoloft, so the conditions at my house is pretty much unlivable." She made her way towards Marissa's dresser, dumping out the contents of her makeup bag, while setting down her purse.

"No problem," Marissa was surprised Brooke was going to the party, but then realized that she probably had no idea who it was for. "So you're going to the party tonight? Do you know who it's for?"

"Um yeah," Summer nodded, grabbing her dress, before disappearing into the bathroom to quickly change, though she continued to speak, "It's for the new family that moved into your old house while we we're on our trip. The Davidson's or something."

"Davis'," Marissa corrected, tracing her finger over the nose of her ShareBear, sure that Summer had no idea about any of that day's events. Who would have told her anyways? Marissa sure hadn't spoken a word of it to her yet.

"That's it!" Summer emerged from the bathroom, wearing a spaghetti strapped light pink number. "Yeah, so did you find out if they have any cute sons? I'm totally fantasizing two twin hotties that can sweep us off of our feet."

"They do have one teenager," Marissa nodded, biting her lip. She couldn't be positive if Summer would take it well or completely freak.

"Okay, well I'm sure we can take turns," Summer grinned, as she adjusted the straps on her dress. "I get to go first though."

"I don't know if she'd be into that," Marissa emphasizing the word "she". Summer's glanced over her shoulder, stopping her process of eyeliner application.

"She? As in a girl?" Summer whined, "Well, have you met her? Maybe she's alright. Coop, we totally need more girlfriends anyways. Chino and Cohen is just…I mean if I wanted to play playstation for 24 hours straight, I would, but I don't. So yeah, not the most exciting people in the world."

"I've met her," Marissa nodded, deciding to just let it out, "Her name is Brooke, she's our age, and she's not so bad."

"Brooke?" Summer raised an eyebrow, but didn't put two and two together, "What's with that name? The 1980's must have been a crazy time for naming kids after waterways or something. I've got to say, not my favorite name."

"No, Sum," Marissa had to bite back a laugh, "Brooke Davis, as in the Brooke Davis of Tree Hill, North Carolina." Instantly the brunette's head snapped up, and she dropped her blush brush.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Summer shook her head, abandoning the mirror and makeup completely, "Are you kidding me? She's here now? Why? Is she like stalking Cohen or what?"

"I guess her dad got a job with the Newport group," Marissa shrugged, trying to calm her best friend down, "So they moved out here. Plus, why would you care? You're over Seth, aren't you?"

"Way over," Summer nodded immediately, her curled hair bouncing, "Like way, way, way, absolutely and completely over him."

"Ok, I get it," Marissa replied, rolling her eyes slightly. "Are you still going to go, or…?"

"No, of course I'm going to go," Summer snapped. Mostly she was going to go because she didn't want to sit home thinking of all the things that might be happening. "Brooke and me are buds, I'm totally going to go and party in the name of support. You know Newport- our slogan should be "the more, the merrier"." It was move then evident to Marissa that Summer's smile and enthusiasm were fake. Her friend wasn't that great of an actress.

"Sounds good to me," Marissa smiled back, pretending to believe her, "It'll be fun. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm ready to get back to the Newport way of things. It'll be nice."

* * *

Brooke glanced around her new room, unopened cardboard boxes laying everywhere. She was ecstatic to be in Newport, though she already felt a little out of place. When her father had told her that they would be moving to California she'd been torn, happy she'd be in the same state as Seth yet sad she'd be leaving her friends. But when he had told her that he'd taken a job with the Newport Group and they would be residing in Newport, all she could feel was sheer joy. Not only was she living in the same city as Seth, she had now discovered that she was living next door to him. It was as if things could not get better. But still she was struggling with the fact that she'd had to leave her friends behind. Tree Hill had been her home from day one until now, so it was hard to believe she wouldn't be living there anymore. It was hard to believe she'd have to start all over. Instead of being Brooke Davis, powerful cheerleader feared by all, she'd be the out of place new kid. Of course she'd have Seth and all his friends to help her adjust, but in some ways it wasn't the same. With a sigh Brooke glanced around at the boxes for what had to have been the millionth time. There was a party in her family's honor in six hours and Brooke figured before she had to start getting ready she should probably get some of her things unpacked. Pushing herself off of her bed, all of her furniture had been set up by movers the day before; Brooke opened the first box , which has been labeled "Brooke's Desk Contents". Glancing in the alcove where her desk and cork board had already been set up, Brooke grinned, she loved decorating her board with pictures and she was happy with the box that had been her first pick. Hauling the box onto the desk Brooke crawled up on it as well, sitting cross-legged as she shifted through the contents of the box, pulling out a package of pictures first. Brooke really couldn't remember slipping the white envelope in there, so she pulled it out and curiously slit it open. Inside was a stack of photos and hand drawn pictures, which she eagerly pulled out and began looking through. Each picture was of two young girls, one with pigtails the other with crazy curls, and at the bottom labeled in Peyton's artistic hand was FOR ALWAYS AND FOREVER. Tears sprang in Brooke's eyes as she spotted the first picture, knowing immediately where and when it had been taken. It had been taken the last day of fifth grade, Nathan had taken it and Brooke and Peyton were hugging each other tightly, just minutes after swearing that middle school would have no effect on their friendship. Slowly moving through the pictures, Brooke was pounded with a strong sense of homesickness that she hadn't exactly expected. Had she really been crazy enough to go along with this? To willing...hell happily...move across the country for some guy she hadn't even known for two weeks? To trade in all of the friendships she'd spent her whole life building, on the drop of a hat? The last picture Brooke found was one that she hadn't seen but could easily remember having been taken just three weeks ago. It was everyone crowded into a picture on the beach, taken by a random passing stranger that Haley had literally chased down. Every single person in that picture had been perfectly happy, for the first time in practically forever they were drama less and planned on having an amazing summer just being friends. The picture had been taken at the end of a beautiful day, they'd had a picnic lunch and played games and pranks on one another and chased Jenny along the water's edge. And she'd traded all of that in for what? Some guy. But then...Seth wasn't just some guy either, thinking about Seth made Brooke realize that yes, maybe she had made the right decision to come along with her parents to California. In fact, she'd immediately disregarded their offer to let her stay with Peyton, but that didn't help her feelings of homesickness at all. Taking in a deep breath Brooke kneeled in front of her board preparing to pin Peyton's picture up. It was then she realized that there was something written on the other side.

_" 'There's something in the way you look back at me from those pictures that tells me we'll last five days after forever...There's something in me that's you. -J.T. Steed.' Brooke we've been friends our entire lives, nothings going to change that...not even you becoming a Cali-Girl...I love you and I'm only a phone call away. Love Always, Peyton."_

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**Coming up: Drama, passion, fights...must be a Newport Party!**

Stephanie & Ali: Hey guys! Thanks for sticking with us for the sequel! Obviously this is mostly Seth/Brooke centric, but that doesn't mean we're going to forget about the other OTH and OC characters! As always, we want to hear your thoughts and opinions, and any ideas you have about what you'd like to see in this story. We absolutely LOVE hearing from you! So keep on sendin' those sweet sweet reviews.


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